Night has come, and the moon is full.
At your request, Robin has taken you to a deserted part of the forest, into a clearing, to teach you a method of awakening the “Divine Fire of Wisdom” within yourself.
“It’s a subtle Art, the Cunning ways,” Robin says. “The Old Horned Father was the first instructor of mankind in the use of the Holy Fire that he awakened in us. It’s like a seed was implanted, back in those days, a seed that is like a smoldering flame. Every living being has it, but only humans have the awareness and capacity to fan this flame to its brightest, most brilliant radiance. As all living things have the seed of divine fire within, all living beings radiate warmth. Every living man or woman radiates warmth, as a simple touch to their skin can show. However, not every human has the inner flame fanned into a bright fire, so not every human radiates light.
In those whom the light fills, the other senses are open, allowing them to see through the darkness of human ignorance, to see with the mystical sight, and allowing them to grow in wisdom and power. Thus, the Rite of the Goat’s Fire is very important, and can, in time, fan the flame within you into a fire, mystically inspiring the consciousness and truly bringing you into your inheritance as one of the Wise.”
He continues:
“The Fire within the body courses about, just as the fire in the Land itself does. The Forge of Old Tubal, deep in the underworld, makes use of the fiery veins of blood that course through the straight tracks and power-rivers of the Land. The secret, as you will see, to awakening the shining serpent of Fire in your blood, is within the Land. The Mark of Tubal Cain, invisible on you now, can be reddened and made obvious by the union of the two fires.”
He looks up at the full moon shining bright down on you both, and says:
“The timing is important. The full moon is needed now, for it alone shows the True mystery of illumination: the Light of the Subtle awareness, the Cunning Light, is very like the sun. It is not always seen, as the sun disappears at night, but it constant, forever shining, even when it is not obvious. The moon is very like the mind of man, the gross, simple consciousness that is dark and dull without the light of the Cunning Father to fill it.
As the Sun’s light fills the moon, making it brilliant, so we see a great heavenly symbol of the mind being filled with the subtle fire or light of the Light-Bringer: the All-Father Tubal Cain, or Lucet, as we call him at times. The light of the Full Moon, reaching us here even in the dark of night, illustrates well what it is we seek: illumination.”
From a tied bundle on his back, Robin produces a lantern, a goat’s skull, an old hammer and some tongs, and a small bag stuffed with herbs.
“The Herbs”, he tells you, “Are sacred to the Mercurial lord, and can help bring powers close to us that can awaken the Subtle Mind.” He produces a bundle of dried leaves. “This is Sun Spurge and May Lily.”
You watch as Robin begins the rite. He draws a compass round in the clearing, but instead of smooring a flame in the center, he stands in the moonlight, facing east, and crosses himself, just as Agnesse once showed you, by touching his forehead, his navel, his left and right shoulders, and then crossing his arms on his chest.
He then walks to the East of the Compass and sets the Lantern down, and before it places the Goat’s skull and the Hammer and the Tongs, crossed. He bows his head, and utters, in a strange tone:
“I invoketh him, bearer of the Heavenly Flame,
He, Supreme in Artifice,
Father of Man, who hath the Cunning Fire,
May his hand make the light between the Horns,
May his hand give the Royal flame of the Sun,
Grow you forth, flame, witness my Art!”
With the lantern glowing, he raises the Skull and proclaims:
“Old Goat, Light-Giver, Brother to Herodias the Queen,
Teacher of the Hidden Craft to Man,
Grow ye forth at the sound of the Call!
Be with me and Witness my Art!”
A strange feeling has descended on the clearing. The blinking stars above you begin to remind you of a thousand eyes, all intently watching the events unfolding in the compass-round.
Robin then lowers the Skull and replaces it in front of the lantern. He raises both of his hands and declares, in a loud voice:
“Old Tubal, Sorcerer and Smith, Called Cunning by men,
Coal Black Smith of the Hammer and Tongs,
Old One of the Word of Life and Death,
Show me the way, prithee, the Cunning Way of wisdom!
Your hand brought the sacred heat upon the first of my kin,
Come, Goat-God, come and bring that flame again!
Let the Golden Light come from beyond the White Wood!
By the Godstane, and by the Arrow-shot,
Part the Twilight Veil!
By the bellows, impress within me thy wind, and
Stir the fire in my blood;
By the Word of the Smith,
By the Word of the Horseman,
By the secret of the Skull on the mound,
And by the Wise blood of the bearers of Thy most holy Mark,
Hear the incantation:
TUBAL CAIN!
HIDDEN, DIVINE GOAT!
BLAZING FIRE!
FIRST AND LAST!
FATHER IN HEAVEN!
FATHER IN HELL!”
Now a strange wind has started tickling your face with cold, and yet, it is not uncomfortable. The tingling sensation it causes is oddly pleasant. You see Robin go to his knees in front of the skull and lantern, and thrust the bundle of herbs into the lantern flame. As they smolder, he inhales the drifting smoke, and waves the burning bundle about his head, and then thrusts the burning bundle into the goat’s skull, where the wisps of smoke eerily escape from its eye sockets.
He then stares at the skull, and says:
“Great Tubal Cain,
Remember your kith and kin!
Let the inheritance sown within me
Blossom into a full reaping of wisdom!
You have my vow, You have my word,
My breath, my beating heart,
And what is Makeless within me!
Have you this, and all in-between!
Of thy stock and blood am I Cunning Man.
Fulfill me with thy gift, the serpent’s gift,
All knowledge, All subtlety, All wisdom!
Do this, in the Great Dark One’s Name! KA!”
He then settles back into a sitting position, still contemplating the bright lantern flame and the Goat’s skull, and he addresses you.
“At this point in the rite, you must breathe in and out completely three times through your right nostril only. Then, you must start rhythmically taking the ‘Breath of the Bellows’. Imagine that the whole world around you is the interior of a huge Bellows, and that when you breathe out, what is actually happening is that your breath is being sucked out of you by its expanding. Then, when you breathe in, imagine that what is happening is that your breath is being forced into you by the closing of the Bellows. Continue to do this until you can sense this as a reality all around you.
Then, allow the bellows-wind that is blowing into you to fan the smoldering flame inside of you, in your spine, to a brighter and brighter intensity. Continue using this breath until you can actually feel the warmth of your inner fire dancing in your spine and mid-body.
After a point, you will fill very warm and very empowered. This is good, but it is not what brings the truly deep transformation. You must, with intent and with concentration, take in one last slow and deep breath, and use that breath to push your own inner flame down your spine, and deep into the earth below you, down to the great fires within the earth, to Old Tubal’s forge. Then, with your exhalation, allow that fire to return back up to you, up your spine, and to rise back into you, all the way up to your head. Let go, and really feel it rise, and infuse your spine and head. When your fire comes back up, it returns mingled with the Fire of the Underworld, the Fiery blood of the Land, the transforming fire of the Smith himself.
At that point, you must lean forward, look into the eyes of the Goat’s skull, and whisper:
“By the Master, the forge, and the Fire, KA!”
He looks at you, and says
“That would end the Rite, normally. Most of us like to sit in quiet communion with the Old One after the final sealing, for it is a powerful time of connection with Him.
If you don’t have a goat’s skull at hand, this rite can be performed with only a source of light, such as a candle, a fire, or a lantern, and a hammer. Remember, it is the intent that really matters, more than the form of the rite. But bear in mind the Full Moon, and do it accordingly. The more you do this rite, the more deeply the effect will take in your mind and spirit. It is powerful and subtle, and even one time doing it can partially open the eyes of the fiery serpent that sleeps in your spine, and deep in your blood. Truly, this rite is a key to achieving powerful insight and wisdom.”